CURITIBA, Brazil (AP) -- Cesc Fabregas says Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho convinced him to sign with the Premier League club after Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said there was no place for the midfielder at his former club.

Fabregas will join Chelsea after the World Cup though Arsenal had first right to buy the 27-year-old Spain international. Wenger told Fabregas that Arsenal "had that position well covered and it would be hard to find a place for me."

Fabregas says Mourinho, meanwhile, "very quickly told me what I wanted to hear. He won me over and convinced me. It all happened very quickly from that point."

Fabregas leaves Barcelona after three seasons with his boyhood club where he was never fully embraced: "My era at Barcelona is over and there is nothing more to say."